Julian Assange lands in Australia a free man
Julian Assange has returned to Australia after a plea agreement allowed him to leave a London prison without further incarceration.
At Canberra Airport, there were emotional scenes as the WikiLeaks founder greeted his wife with a kiss and embraced his father, while his lawyers, visibly moved, looked on.
Stella Assange spoke at a subsequent press conference, expressing the need for Julian to recuperate and adjust to his newfound freedom.
For the past 14 years, Assange has been entangled in legal disputes with US authorities over allegations of leaking classified documents that purportedly endangered lives.
The 52-year-old did not attend the Canberra press conference, opting to have his lawyer and wife speak on his behalf.
“You have to understand what he’s been through,” Mrs. Assange remarked, emphasizing the family’s desire to reconnect.
The couple married in London’s Belmarsh prison in 2022 and have since had two children together.
Under the terms of the plea deal, Assange admitted guilt to one count of conspiracy to acquire and disclose national defense information, a reduced charge from the original 18 he faced.
The case revolves around WikiLeaks’ major disclosure in 2010, including a video from a US military helicopter showing civilian casualties in Baghdad, along with thousands of confidential documents suggesting unreported civilian deaths by US forces in Afghanistan.
The revelations sparked global outcry and intensified scrutiny of US military actions abroad.
Assange formally acknowledged the charge from the remote Northern Mariana Islands, a US territory in the Pacific, shortly after leaving Belmarsh prison.
In return, he was sentenced to time already served and released to fly home.
His lawyer, Jen Robinson, told the media that the deal was “criminalization of journalism” and set a “dangerous precedent”.
Echoing this, Mrs. Assange said she hopes the media “realize the danger of this US case against Julian, that criminalizes, that has secured his conviction for newsgathering and publishing information that was true, that the public deserved to know”.
His lawyer also gave details on a phone call between Assange and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who has been instrumental in securing his release.
Assange told the prime minister that he “saved his life”, Ms. Robinson said, adding: “I don’t think that’s an exaggeration”.
“This is a huge win that Australia stood up to an ally and demanded the return of an Australian citizen,” she said.
Mr. Albanese held his news conference on Wednesday, saying he is “very pleased” that the case is over, adding that the Wikileaks founder has been through a “considerable ordeal”.
The PM has said in the past that he does not agree with everything Assange has done, but “enough was enough” and it was time for him to be released, making the case a priority.
When asked whether the plea deal may affect US-Australia relations, he said: “We have a very positive relationship with the United States. I regard President Biden as a friend, I regard their relationship as being central.”
The US State Department said its involvement with Assange’s case had been very limited. It added that the 52-year-old’s actions had put the lives of US partners, allies, and diplomats at risk and that the Wikileaks releases had “chilled” the ability of US diplomats to build relationships abroad.
Assange spent the last five years behind bars at London’s high-security Belmarsh Prison, fighting US attempts to extradite him to face charges over the document leaks.
In 2010, he faced separate charges of rape and sexual assault in Sweden, which he denied. He spent seven years hiding in Ecuador’s London embassy, claiming the Swedish case would lead him to be sent to the US.
Swedish authorities dropped that case in 2019 and said that too much time had passed since the original complaint.
Women’s rights groups in Sweden say it is a shame he never faced official questioning over the rape allegations.
“It’s a chapter of shame and betrayal that ends with his release,” Clara Berglund, head of the Swedish Women’s Lobby, told Reuters news agency.
“This is about a case that takes place on the major political stages, and men’s violence against women is given incredibly little weight.”
